Mode of fastening breastpins



UNITED STATES PATENT CFFICE.

CHARLES F. KOLB, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

MODE 0E FASTENING BREAsTDrNs.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 17,881, dated July 28, 1857.

To all whom it may concern: y

Be it known that I, CHARLES FERDINAND KOLB, of the city and county of Philadelphia, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new Improvements upon the Mode of Fastening Breastpins, Brooches, Armlets, Cuff-Pins, and other Articles of Jewelry and Ornaments for Dress, and do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description of the said improvements and of the construction and operation thereof, relation being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The butt of the stem or holding pin A (Figures 1 and 2) instead of being hinged immediately upon the back plate of the breastpin, brooch, &c., as in the ordinary way, is made to slide longitudinally in a slotted barrel B, which barrel is hinged upon the back late in the usual manner. There are two s ots in this barrel B, one is longitudinal m, and the other z, at the lower end of the said barrel, communicates immediately with the longitudinal slot oc and is transverse. Upon the up er surface of the head or butt of the stem is a knob or more properly, a ring, C, which ring (whose neck, fitting in the longitudinal slot x) allows the stem A, to be rojected and retracted through the barrel B only in a longitudinal direction, and serves at the same time as a point dappnfl to which the nger may be applied in projecting and retracting the stem when affixing or detaching the breastpin or brooch from the dress and also serves to prevent the stem A from being projected or retracted farther than the length of the longitudinal slot, and thus from being drawn or pushed completely out of the barrel B. As this knob is ringed, it aords at the same time a place of attachment for a guard chain which may be used with great eect in the manner hereinafter set forth.

When the stem is projected into the catch D (hereinafter described) the ring C is pressed laterally into the transverse slot e, and thus being thrown out of the longitudinal slot x, the stem A is bolted and all further longitudinal motion thereof is prevented.

The catch D, above mentioned is represented at large in Fig. 3. It is made of a vstrip of metal bent over so as to form a narrow arch, the base of which is soldered to the back plate of the brooch or breast in. A notch E is led in the side of the arche or The modus operandi of the entire arrangement is as follows. The breastpin or brooch being disengaged, is applied, and the stem A, inserted in the usual manner in the wearers dress the point of the stem A is then admitted into the triangular notch E in the tubular catch D. As the stem A and barrel B are made of the usual material, and the barrel B, is jointed or hinged on the back plate of the breastpin or brooch in the usual manner, and as the point of the stem is elfectually and entirely covered, concealed, and protected by the arched or tubular catch D it will readily be perceived that by the mere elasticity of the stem A, itself it is far more securely fastened, and far less liable to slip from the catch than when secured by any method now in use. The ring C, is now pressed by the finger of the wearer, downward (that is to say, toward the catch D). It passes through the barrel B, sliding in the longitudinal slot x, forcing the stem A toward the catch D and thus extending or projecting the point of the stem farther into the tubular catch D and through the verforation in the plate F, inserted in the arc ied portion of the catch. The stem is thus firmly and tightly secured, no wabbling or motion of any kind being allowed it, except that of longitudinal retraction. This longitudinal retraction is prevented, and the operation of fastening the breastpin or brooch is completed, by pressing the ring C into the lateral or transverse slot z. The stem is now completely and securely locked or bolted, and as its point is thus held firmly by the perforated plate F in the arched or tubular catch D all motion or play of any kind or in any direction is effectually prevented, except that of a revolution on its axis, which may be prevented from taking place accidentally, by the attaching of a guard chain and pin in the usual manner to the ring C. By simply passing the guard chain and pin under the stem A, (that is to say, between the stem A, and the wearers dress,) and inserting the guard pin attached to the chain, in the dress on the opposite side to the ring C, the pressure thereby exerted will effectually prevent any accidental or unintentional revolution of the stem upon its axis.

As the longitudinal slot :t may be made in one side of the barrel B and the transverse slot z continued laterally therefrom, twothirds around the circumference of the barrel B, or as much farther as may be compatible with the strength of the unslotted portion of the barrel B and the ring C may be turned completely under the barrel so as to be effectually concealed and protected by therbarrel, from observation or any accidental jerks, and as all accidental erks would, in the event of a simple guard chain and pin being attached thereto and used in the manner above set forth, only serve to pull and force the ring into and against the end of the lateral or transverse slot .e (thus increasing the security of the same) it is fully evident, that any accidental disengagement of the article of jewelry or ornament fastened by my im roved arrangement is absolutely impossib e.

As the point of the stem or holding pin A is always (except in the process of unpinning or slipping out the stem from the dress) concealed in and secured and protected by the arched or tubular catch D and the perforated late therein all the usual risks and in fact t e slightest risk, of the stem being jerked out, by becoming caught in other portions of the wearers dress, or by catching in the dress of other persons as now too commonly happens, and all the unpleasant and painful scratches and punctures, so frequently received from the exposed points of the stems in present use, are totally and completely avoided.

I am fully aware that an arrangement working upon the same principle of a sliding stem has been invented by, and patented to one John George Taylor in England A. D. 1853, and that also many of the component or constituent parts of the said Taylors invention are similar to some of the component or constituent parts of my improved arrangement as hereinbefore described. I therefore disclaim the general principle 0f sliding or bolting, (which I am also fully aware has been in use upon the common doorbolt from time immemorial) .and the mere application of that principle as in the Taylor invention, also such portions of the said Taylor arrangement as may be similar to or identical with certain portions of my improvement. I use but one tube with two slots, one longitudinal and the other transverse, as hereinbefore set forth. This tube or barrel can be made of the common studpost always kept on hand by manufacturing jewelers. A few strokes of a saw suflice to cut the slots. The stem, instead of being shortened in available length by the use of a bulbous protuberance for the purpose of preventing it from being retracted too far, is available throughout its entire length. No more space is required to operate it than is required by the stem and hook catch now in use. From its simple construction, and the exceeding fewness of its component parts which are only live in number, viz., the tube or barrel, the stem, the ring thereon, the arched or tubular catch and the perforated plate, it can be made by any ordinary workman, at a cost not exceeding by but little (if any,) that of the ordinary stem and hook catch. By this simplicity and fewness of component parts, complication is avoided, with the other incidents thereto, such as liability to become disarranged, or to come apart, &c. &c.

I therefore claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent- The improvement as specified.

CHARLES F. KOLB. Nitnesses present:

W. H. ALLINGTON, IILLIAM E. LITTLETON. 

